Stickin' It to the (wo)man

Ok...quick update. I got a fabulous apartment. I am now full-time at work. I have been doing great. I finished my first gemology course and passed with flying colors. (I like pink flying colors.) I am waiting to hear back from GIA to see if I am eligible to receive any scholarships...which would rock. Justin and I are going ten months strong and I am looking into getting a kitten or a miniture dog- something cute.

Alrighty...can we please get a hell yeah for people walking out on the job?! I recently had two different instances of this awesome phenomena. When your life at work sucks because of one person, it's hard not to secretly wish they would get fired or people would realize what pieces of crap they really are.
I, for one, believe that God doesn't work that way. You will never be walking down the street and all the sudden see the guy that cut in front of you at Starbucks this morning get soaked by a car after a heavy rain. You'll never be sitting on a park bench with your "uber crush" making out just as his ex, or your high school enemy, walks by just in time to see him reach in his pocket for that coveted 2-carat diamond ring. Yeah right. You also won't ever be around when the person who has made your life a living hell for so long you stopped counting- finally gets what is coming to them. God just puts his hand up and says, "Nope. Ain't gonna happen. Just go do your thing and leave everything up to me." Ugh!!! FINE!
Not even one teensy little peek into "Youhaditcomingville?" Grr...ok. As I'm mentally stomping away in protest, I again had an epiphany. I love that word- epiphany.
Here I am thinking how unfair it is that certain people get away with everything. That the power of manipulation is ruining my ability to have a normal day in my life. I am worrying constantly that I am getting closer and closer to my breaking point. The last straw is just a nano-incident away. Am I going to be able to do this?! All the sudden, Miss Trigger Finger, shot again. And missed....big time. I didn't even see it coming, so I definitely know God is paying attention. And boy, what a show.
First off, when you decide that you want out of a situation, be it work, a relationship, a bad book even- get the fuck out. Just close that chapter and end of good terms. Don't drag it out to the point where you start looking like a pathetic moron or a scary unstable mean-y. (Yes, I said mean-y.) Why hang out on that limb? If someone is just not happy and thereby takes it upon themselves to invent creative ways to "stick it to the man," shouldn't they just stop wasting energy and leave? Go do something else? Relax?!
Well, you would think that such a level of unhappiness would lead to a change. Either you'd talk it out and clear the air, or things would just get to the point where someone had to step up or step out. So after about a year of constant bitching it finally happened. Just like that. I'm on the other side of the building putting the finishing touches on a recent sale, and I get the confrontation that only a crazy person would have the guts to follow through with.
We don't work on commission, I have known that since the beginning. I also realize that I am the newest person there and I would never attempt to tell someone how to do their job. Even if I know that I know better, it's just not cool. I also have been scared to death of pissing this person off, so it's been a walking on broken glass kind of year.
Alrighty, so here's how it played out- no frills, no spins- just the plain truth. You can't make this shit up. It's funny enough on its own.

We'll start with a brief background- the person I work with that hates me, actually was the person who got me my current job. And I am eternally grateful- seriously. This job has cleared a lot up for me life-wise. I would thank them, but I'm not in the business of handing out ego-trips, so we'll just assume that they know deep down how grateful I am.
The first two months were great. I had fun, we had become really close and I think helped us a lot. Then as Christmas came to a close, I was offered to stay on part time. I made sure is jived with everyone else and accepted. January was a little rough- she complained a lot to me, but nothing ever really involved me. She was mostly bitching about our manager, the owner, the situation. And honestly, at that time I could see where she was coming from. Some things definitely sucked. But it still wasn't that horrible. We could work in a lot worse places. As the winter played out and we got into spring, it was like she was wound tight. There were little blowups and snide comments going back and forth. There was a confrontation with our manager and weekly "meetings" with the owner to explain how mistreated she was. Every day we all wondered what was next. One great day, one good day, one shitty day, one good day, one great day....blah blah blah.
More background- my boyfriend Justin works there too. That's how we met. I normally don't date people I work with. I've done that once before and very unfortunately it didn't work out. I worked with Justin my first Christmas season there and never really paid attention to him. Then last year for some reason it was different. I fell hard and prayed that guy noticed me. We didn't even talk and I was already hoping he'd ask me out. Well to make a long story short, he did, and we're still together.
I again made sure it wasn't a problem with everyone at work and no one had any complaints, except for her. At first, they were valid claims. What if you break up and you have to work together? What about looking too lovey-dovey? Be careful....ok ok. Then it just got fucked up. Justin and I were very secretive about our relationship, but all the sudden he and I are going out too much and drinking too much and all kinds of other stuff that I wouldn't tell Dr. Ruth. Needless to say, I was pissed. But being the scared and intimidated person I was, I said nothing. I was waiting for something to give. And I owed NO ONE an explanation unless they came to me and asked for one.
Alright. So the end of April Justin went to school for a week in Virginia Beach for goldsmithing. It was the first time in almost 5 months that we'd be apart. I got the work schedule for that week and realized that I had two days off. Woo hoo! I'm going to Virginia Beach! And the only person that had a problem with that was, you guessed it! I went anyway. When I came back, we had two horrible days at work, then she got pissed at the tiniest thing (someone correcting her sales slip) and she walked out. Things spiraled downward pretty fast after that. She ran her mouth to everyone, played everyone against everyone else, and pretty much stirred the caldron like the witch she truly is.
The summer sucked. Every week it was a new ordeal. She threatened to quit, talked shit, and basically had most of us flipping her off when she turned her back to us. I was to the point where it was her or me.
Then that fateful day....

This couple had been in twice before looking at 1 carat diamond earrings. They came in again this time to buy finally. I was using the restroom, and when I came out our office manager asked me to giftwrap something for her. So I took the gift and went to the other side of the store. I noticed that couple had returned and smile and went on my way. So I'm wrapping this gift and all the sudden she comes storming over.

Her: We don't work on commission Courtney.
(Obviously I'm not thrilled with the tone she's used)
Me: What? What are you talking about?
(I kinda thought maybe this was a joke)
Her: You heard me, we don't work on commission, so there was no need to get Teresa [our manager] to come finish my sale
(Oook...this is not going well)
Me: I really have no idea what you're talking about.
Her: Yes you do. You saw those people come in and you went to get Teresa to butt in on my sale!
(At this point I realize this is just another one of her tirades, but this time it's a bit more scary and I'm pretty pissed because I know that I didn't do what she's accusing me of.)
Me: I didn't get anyone, I have been here the whole time.
Her: Whatever, I just wanted you to know that we don't work on commission.
(DUH! I'm aware .... what the hell.)

So she storms out of the store. I'm still standing there like what the heck happened? I walked over to follow her because at that point I thought about going outside to be like, "Hey bitch, don't talk to me that way..." But I figured that was not the smartest thing I could do. My manager intercepted me and asked if she confronted me. What really happened was our Office Manager saw the couple come in and when she saw that bitchface was working with them she asked Teresa to help because they had been in the store already and we needed to close the sale. Funny how I get blamed. So she walked out and quit. Just like that. No more of this quitting and coming back the next day bullshit. She just outright quit. Awesome.

Three weeks later, everyone gets along. We're all much more positive. Her name hasn't really been mentioned. I did however find out a lot of the nonsense bullshit she's been saying. Once she was gone it didn't take much to realize all the crap she'd really been pulling. This woman came in yesterday and was asking about her. We just said that she had left. Not that she quit or got fired. It was her decision. There were no hard feelings. Short and sweet. Then the best thing happened. This woman was like, "Aww that's a shame, I bet you all miss having her around, huh?" You know what? Not ONE person said anything. We all laughed out loud when that lady left. Like hysterical laughing. Or maybe it was a laugh of relief and pent up "hell yes, the bitch is gone!" But it felt good.
Today we were cleaning out the office. We always write down our larger sales so we can contact the customer and make sure they are happy with their purchase and whatnot. When Teresa got to her journal she went through the pages and skimmed some of the sales. There was one in particular that caught her eye from about two years ago. (Keep in mind I was not there to cause her any "grief" as she put it.

"1 carat round diamond. SI1/E. Sold to ______. I was the person who helped with this sale. Teresa wrote up the slip, but it was me who talked to him in the parking lot and I spoke to him the day before when he came in again. I helped with that sale." *scary music*

So obviously she was hating before I was there to cause her all the problems she blamed on me. She was wacking out WAY before me. What a misguided, scary bitch.

All the crazy stuff she pulled between flipping off the camera, telling our owner that I was an alcoholic, our manager was ruining her sales (eventhough she has 27 years experience in the busniess- she totally butted in!), we can all now breathe a sigh of relief that she's back home where she belongs. Maybe the job itself was what caused her to be so upset all the time and whatnot. But I however, know better. And it goes way beyond the amount of space I am allowed on here. I know that it's not over yet. Her scary ass "fuck you" smile is all I need to know that it's not over yet. But whatever. I'm just glad that I don't have to look at her everyday. and I sure as shit don't have to hear her glass-breaking laugh.

True story.